Paul and Lucy Spadoni periodically live in Tuscany to explore Paul’s Italian roots, practice their Italian and enjoy “la dolce vita.”
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Wednesday, March 21, 2012

A surprising connection with the past found at Sunday mass in San Salvatore

Sunday, March 18

I took a dozen photos, and though this is hard to read,it is the best I could get without bringing it portablelighting.

My second Sunday in the San Salvatore church is much like
the first, though more people—about 60—attend, and I find a pleasant surprise
after everyone leaves. This time I sit in the very front, and everyone has to
pass by me when they leave, but nobody says anything to me. I leave and ride around
the town for a 15 minutes. When I pass by again, the church door is still open
but nobody is inside.

During the service, I had noticed that names were engraved
in various places on the pillars and walls of the church. It seems that the
interior of the church was refinished around 1960, because most of the names
are dated a few years before or after that date. I assume the names are of
people who donated towards the work. I have remembered that some years ago, my
cousin Al told me that when he visited here in the 1970s, he talked to a priest
who told him that one of the inscriptions is from a Seghieri family who had
contributed. Now I am in search of that inscription.

Most of the inscriptions are on dark green marble on the
walls that extends from the floor up about four feet. The lower parts of the
walls are not well lit, and the inscriptions are a bit hard to find in the
dimness, but I do find the Seghieri name near the front, beside an old
freestanding confessional. I get down to look at the inscription up close, and
what a surprise! The donation, in 1959, was from my dad’s uncle, Seghiero “Jim”
Segheiri, along with his wife Leona and Leona’s sister Renata. It reads:

Spouses Seghiero & Leona Seghieri
Sister-in-law Renata Walter
1959

I knew that Uncle Jim and Aunt Leona had made trips to
Italy, but I had never talked to them about the trips. In fact, I was only 6
years old in 1959, and even when I was older, I didn’t know Jim and Leona well,
though what I would give now to be able to sit down and pepper them with
questions! I would especially like to know for sure where the old Seghieri
house is, or was, although a half dozen other questions spring to mind in just
a few seconds of thought. What became of the house when the last of Jim’s
siblings moved to America? How did Nonno meet Nonna Anita Seghieri, Jim’s
sister? What Seghieri relatives did Jim meet on his trips to Italy? What can he
tell me about his mother and father, my great grandparents?

I head home and dash off e-mails to cousins Gloria and Lita
Dawn. Cousin Al is deceased, but I want to know what Gloria remembers about the
church in San Salvatore. She writes back that she doesn’t think Al actually saw
the inscription up close, and neither do I, because I’m sure he would have said
more about it. It is a real pity he didn’t see it up close, because the Renata
Walter listed was his mother! Gloria doesn’t think that Renata made a return
visit to Italy, but I assume that Jim and Leona came back from a trip, told
Renata that they planned to donate to the church remodeling, and Renata
contributed as well.

Leona and Renata Donati first came to America in 1909 from
San Romano, about 100 miles north of San Salvatore, when they were 8 and 6 years old, respectively. In 1924, Renata married Alfredo Spadoni, the father of Al, so I have
ties to the Donati family on both the Spadoni and Seghieri sides. When Alfredo
passed away in 1944, Renata remarried Ralph Walter, which explains the way she
is listed on the inscription.

Seghiero "Jim" Seghieri is probably
about 15 when this photo was
taken in Italy.

I also hear back from Dawn, Jim’s granddaughter, who writes
that she has a lot of photos that Jim took on his trips back to Italy: “He was
the family photographer and made us sit through many slide shows after their
trips to Italy. At the time, they were terribly boring. With your familiarity
and experiences in Italy, you might recognize many of the images
photographed.”

Dawn is my age—actually I am two days older—so of course she
would have had trouble sitting through the slide shows, but we are both excited
about getting together and looking at them now, perhaps during the coming
summer or fall. She also sends me copies of an old photo of her nonno and a
letter that he received from San Salvatore, written by his mother not long
before her death in 1910.

I have come here in part to explore my roots, and it is
moments like today that make me feel that the connection, though distant in
years, is still strong.

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About Me

First off, before you hassle me about our title, Lucy thought of it. Yes, I know some people may think broad is derogatory, but the etymology is uncertain and she doesn’t find it offensive, and it made me laugh. We have been married since 1974 and are empty-nesters now, which allows me to bring my submerged Italophilia into the open. We first came to live in Italy from February-April in 2011 and have returned during the same months every year. From 2011-2015, we lived in San Salvatore, at the foot of the hilltop city Montecarlo, where my paternal grandparents were born, raised and, in 1908, married. In late 2015, we bought a home in Montecarlo. We come for a variety of purposes: We want to re-establish contact with distant cousins in both Nonno’s and Nonna’s families, we want to learn the language and see what it is like to live as Italians in modern Italy, we like to travel and experience different cultures. Even if we aren’t successful at achieving these purposes, we love Italy and enjoy every moment here, so there is no chance we will be disappointed. I am grateful to God for giving me a wife who is beautiful, clever, adaptable and willing to jump into my dreams wholeheartedly.